She Was Missing
by coral2000
Summary: Rapunzel disappears one day and Jack realizes he kinda sorta maybe fell in love with her? He'll definitely tell her when she comes back, though. (Well, it's been a few weeks and there's been no sign of her, but he can still hope.) AU, Jackunzel


Jack stirred his icy drink with his green straw. It was cold out, but Jackson Overland Frost loved the cold; hence the cold drink. He couldn't stand hot drinks other than hot chocolate, but who could hate it? (I mean, why did they invent ice cubes then? To keep drinks _cold,_ obviously.)

Rapunzel Corona, on the other hand, favored warmth. She would always either order a steaming cup of, well, _something,_ or lemonade, but only when it was too hot out for even her to bear. Sometimes she'd order a smoothie. On those days, Jack would nudge her and tease her about ruining their normal Starbucks routine. She'd laugh her ringing laugh and threaten to hit him with a frying pan. He almost smiled in memory.

But this time, he was the one breaking their little "Starbucks routine," by going with _someone else. _As simple as their little trips out were, Jack never would've imagined going with anyone but her. And he was missing being with Rapunzel.

His date kept talking. She was nice and probably perfect, but he didn't like her like that. No, he didn't even want to be there. It was an arranged date, set up by Jack's close friend Hiccup. (_Curse you, Hic,_ Jack scowled mentally.) He had thought Jack was acting a little depressed recently, but wouldn't you be depressed if your best friend suddenly disappeared off the face of the Earth?

"Jack?" his date asked, pursing her lips. (Rapunzel did that, too, sometimes.)

"Yeah?" (God, please stop talking. Say you hate me or something. _Please._ I can't stand this anymore.)

"You just seemed a little spacey." (Because I don't want to listen. You're an awesome person, but I don't want to go on a date with you.)

"I've been a bit distracted lately." (Understatement of the century. I've almost become a zombie since Rapunzel went missing. Yes, Hiccup, I realize that. But nothing's going to change it.)

His date nodded as though she understood, her blue eyes sparkling. (Not as much as Rapunzel's green eyes did.)

But that was the thing. His date creepily resembled Rapunzel. She had the same face shape; round with overlarge eyes, thin, pink lips, and a slim, upturned nose. The way she talked and gestured was kind of like Rapunzel, too. But this girl was vampire pale instead of tan, with white blond hair and ice blue eyes (Just like him… For some weird reason, his twisted mind kept thinking she was a blend of his and Rapunzel's traits.). She seemed kind of on edge, as though everyone would suddenly hate her, and yet stern, in a sophisticated way, he supposed (Not like Rapunzel, who was all smiles_laugh_smiles_laugh_). Plus, it almost felt like she was judging his every move. He wasn't comfortable around her. He was definitely more of himself around Rapunzel, with her long, golden hair and bright smile, and her crinkly nose when he teased her, and her bubbly excitement.

God, he missed her. He hadn't seen her in weeks. (Five weeks, four days, and approximately thirteen hours, but who's counting?) And her mom had gone missing, too, which seemed kind of suspicious. But, anyways, there were so many things Jack wanted (_needed_) to tell her if she ever came back. (When she came back. _WHEN._ She WAS going to come back… right?) He never told her how much he appreciated her for being there. How she filled his life with light. How she made every day of his life worth living for. How he very possibly had fallen completely in love with her.

And all at once, the date felt so wrong he wanted to throw something (Jack Frost, lose his temper that bad? Wow, never thought I'd see the day. Mostly he just gets frustrated and leaves, or, you know, says something rude.). How could he be on a _date_ with someone? And one of Rapunzel's friends, too! (Oops, did he forget to mention?) And how could she (referring to the date here) be out on dates like this when her friend was _gone_?!

"I can't do this," he blurted out suddenly.

His date looked up, eyes wide with surprise. "What?"

"I can't date you," he explained. Realizing how cold and callous he sounded, he tried to backtrack. "Well, you're really nice and all, but…" He hesitated. "It just wouldn't work out."

His date looked down on the floor. She seemed crestfallen, which almost confused him. How could she still like him when he'd been practically ignoring her the whole time? Suddenly, she whispered quietly, yet clearly, "It's Rapunzel, isn't it?"

Jack almost dropped his drink, which he had just picked up, and fumbled with it. At last, he managed to set it safely on the table before choking out a strangled, "Huh?" Immediately, he cursed himself for sounding so stupid. But his date (_ex_-date) just smiled sadly.

"I knew it," she murmured. "And I knew you two would be together eventually. But I was awful. I'm sorry for that. Especially to you, because I thought… I thought it was my chance. And it was stupid and mean of me. I knew you were thinking about her this whole time, but I thought you would like me over time, if she was gone. I'm really sorry. But I hoped… I hoped…" She sighed. "I was being rude to you and my friend. Can you still forgive me?"

At first, Jack felt irrational rage build up. He didn't even understand why he was mad, but he was so angry and wanted to snap. But when he saw how lost the girl looked, he knew what Rapunzel would want him to do.

"Yeah. Of course I can forgive you." (Insert fake grin here. Note: It's okay to let it slide off your face as soon as you're done talking.)

The girl's smile was still kind of strained, but her posture relaxed. "Thank you. And… Jack?"

"Yeah?"

She paused, before looking down. "Good luck."

Jack swallowed a lump in his throat before forcing a smile. "Thanks… Elsa."

* * *

His phone buzzed.

He was sitting on his couch, covered with a giant blanket even though it was too hot. It caged him in and kind of cooked him, despite the winter chill (The coldness that Jack always enjoyed). But Rapunzel always wrapped herself in a blanket to keep out the cold, and he found himself doing it, too, for some reason. And he didn't have the heart to leave the blanket draped all lonely-like over the couch (it looked pretty depressing).

He had made twice as many pancakes as he wanted to eat, because it was habit to make that many. Rapunzel adored pancakes and it was the one time that she could eat as much food as him (Besides when she made hazelnut soup. It had been a mutual favorite of theirs.). She carefully buttered her pancakes and poured a "perfect" amount of syrup over her stack. Meanwhile, Jack always doused his in syrup and whipped cream. Staring at the table, he wished she was there to eat the untouched plate of pancakes sitting next to his and to laugh at him when he got whipped cream all over his face. He wished she was there, period.

His life was completely upside down without her. Even _eating pancakes_ wasn't the same. He couldn't even enjoy the cold. And there was the perfect amount of snow outside for a snowball fight. Or to make snowmen and snow angels, which Rapunzel enjoyed a lot more than snowball fights (although she did particularly enjoy it when she managed to hit him on the face).

His phone buzzed again, insistently, reminding him of the text he had received earlier. Reluctantly, he dragged himself up and reached for the phone to check the message.

_THEY FOUND HER! She was kidnapped, but she's alright now and just go to the police station by that Golden bakery place!_

It was Merida Dunbroch, Rapunzel's close friend who he never quite got along with. And there was only one person she could be talking about.

_Punzie?!_

_ Who else, Frosty? Get your icy butt over here NOW!_

He didn't need any encouragement. He leapt to his feet, grabbed his keys, and ran out the door as fast as he could_._

* * *

"And what did you say she called herself?"

"Mother Gothel."

Jack watched restlessly through the camera at the police station where Rapunzel was being interrogated. Merida and Hiccup stood silently on either side of him.

"With curly black hair and a pale complexion, correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"And… you found the papers where in her room?"

"In a small safe in her closet."

"And the whole time you thought she was your biological mother? You didn't suspect anything at all?"

Rapunzel fidgeted uneasily, tugging at her hair. "No, sir."

The officer jotted some notes down. "And did she didn't display any unusual behavior?"

"Well…" Rapunzel looked down and bunched her purple dress in her hands nervously. "She never showed me any affection. No hugs or anything. Not even real compliments. And she had no birth pictures of me, or passports. We never went anywhere. She… she tried to keep me away from everyone. Sometimes she'd disappear for long periods of time and leave me home by myself."

The officer's pen made scratching noises as it raced across the page. Rapunzel shifted uneasily in her chair, her usually radiant smile replaced by a troubled frown.

Finally, the man cleared his throat. "Do you have anywhere to stay while we work out who your parents are? If not, I'm afraid you'll have to be put in the orphanage…" (Jack made a strangled noise from the back of his throat- almost a growl. Yeah, he hated the orphanage. Before he was adopted by North, Toothiana, Sandy, and Aster, he had lived there for years.)

"I can stay with my friend Merida."

"Last name?"

"Dunbroch."

The officer made one last note on his paper before standing up. "Thank you for cooperating, Miss Corona. We will look over the information and call you if we have any new developments." He reached out to shake Rapunzel's hand.

"Thank you, sir."

"It's my job to help, miss."

Rapunzel smiled weakly and left the room. When she saw Jack, her bright green eyes (the ones that he'd missed so much) widened and filled to the brim with tears. She stood there for a moment before racing over and flinging her arms around his neck. A tear slipped loose and dripped down her cheek. Jack wrapped his arms around her waist, breathing in her scent of flowers and sunshine. He couldn't believe she was there, not after all the nights filled with restless sleep and aching sadness. But she was there. And he was definitely going to kill Gothel for her absence.

He had always known something was off about that woman, with the shifty way she acted and how she never cared for her daughter. But he never would've suspected she had stolen Rapunzel as a young child. He didn't care what the reason was (once the police found it, that is), he hated Gothel. But, as long as Rapunzel was safe, he was happy.

He buried his face into her _long_soft_long_softhair and whispered softly, "I love you," so quietly that nobody, not even her, heard. He didn't want to proclaim his love for her in a police station, after all. But when she calmed down, she wound up in Jack's apartment (typical behavior, really), where he covered her in blankets. She made space for him, and he lay next to her on the bed, under only one layer of blankets while she was buried under three, just like how winter nights always passed. And yet this time was completely different.

Because now, after all this time, he knew he was completely and utterly in love with her. And if anybody tried to harm her again (emotionally or physically, it didn't matter), he would never let it happen. He'd be there for her, always.


End file.
